Why Palin's tour is smart

We asked in Morning Score yesterday whether any readers could make the case that Palin's odd bus tour is actually helping her politically. A number of folks had smart takes, but this one — from New Hampshire RNC committeeman and former McCain campaign honcho Steve Duprey — is worth posting in full ahead of Palin's visit to the state:

1. With Trump and other potential candidates dominating the media for the past four months, Governor Palin has not been in the news. Not being in the news is like denying her oxygen. If she decides not to run for office, this tour will have, at a minimum, put her back in the news and will have reminded the republican party and her television show viewers that she is a force in the party and will shape the debate whether in or out.

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2. If she decides to run she will certainly have revved up her base and gotten people excited- let's face it- she is interesting and refreshing and unorthodox. Just by taking the tour she forced Representative Bachmann to spend her entire last week explaining how she and Governor Palin were not competitors or fighting for the same base of voters. Her tour quickly started to drown out the serious news and very successful announcement by Tim Pawlenty.

3. The bus tour also gives her family a chance to remind themselves of the craziness they may be signing up for- a dry run to see if they really want to spend the next year and a half doing this is, at a minimum, not a bad thing.